Posts
Yellowstone Notebook
Yellowstone announces lottery for 2021-2022 Non-Commercially Guided Snowmobile Access Program -
News Release Yellowstone announces lottery for 2021-2022 Non-Commercially Guided Snowmobile Access Program Snowmobile near Swan Lake NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date: July 29, 2021 Contact: Morgan Warthin , 307-344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Beginning Sunday, August 1, people may apply to the 2021-2022 winter lottery for permits to snowmobile in Yellowstone without a commercial guide. Authorized in 2013, the Non-Commercially Guided Snowmobile Access Program allows one group of up to five snowmobiles to enter Yellowstone from each of its four winter entrances per day. This year’s lottery will be open on www.recreation.gov from August 1-31, 2021. Successful applicants will be notified in early September. Unclaimed or cancelled permits will be made available via www.recreation.gov on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning on October 1, 2021. There is no waiting list. Cancellations may occur throughout the winter season, so check t...
“Land of the burning ground”: Yellowstone’s Native American history and traditions - USGS
“Land of the burning ground”: Yellowstone’s Native American history and traditions Release Date: July 26, 2021 We sometimes think of Yellowstone as an untouched landscape, but humans have been present in the area for over ten thousand years! The history and traditions of Native Americans in Yellowstone are as rich as the landscape itself. Yelowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Cole Messa, Ph.D. student and Professor Ken Sims, both in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. To the Crow, it was the “land of the burning ground” or “land of vapors”; to the Blackfeet it was known as “many smoke”; to the Flatheads it was “smoke from the ground”; to the Kiowa it was called “the place of hot water.” Almost 150 years after its establishment by President Ulysses S. Gr...
Grand Teton Park Continues Efforts to Protect Bighorn Sheep - NPS
News Release Grand Teton Park Continues Efforts to Protect Bighorn Sheep Qualified volunteers from 2020 invited to cull non-native mountain goats this Date: July 23, 2021 Contact: Denise Germann, 307-739-3393 Contact: CJ Adams, 307-739-3431 MOOSE, WY— Grand Teton National Park is continuing a multi-year program to eradicate non-native mountain goats as part of a management plan aimed to conserve a native and vulnerable population of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in the Teton Range. The program includes a qualified volunteer culling program this fall, September 22-October 25, to remove non-native mountain goats from the park. The use of qualified volunteers is a tool identified in the National Park Service’s 2019 Mountain Goat Management Plan. There is widespread interest among local, state, and national stakeholders in conserving the Teton Range bighorn sheep herd. The National Park Service is working on this project in cooperation w...
High-water temperatures and low stream flows prompt fishing closures in Yellowstone National Park - NPS
News Release High-water temperatures and low stream flows prompt fishing closures in Yellowstone National Park Spawning cutthroat trout, Lamar Valley NPS/Jay Fleming Contact: Morgan Warthin , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY - Effective Saturday, July 24, Yellowstone National Park’s rivers and streams will close to fishing in the afternoon and evening due to high-water temperatures and unprecedented low stream flows. This closure will protect the park’s native and wild trout fisheries. What will be closed? Fishing on rivers and streams will be prohibited from 2 p.m. to sunrise the following day. The closure will remain in effect until further notice. What will be open? Anglers can fish from sunrise to 2 p.m. Yellowstone Lake and other lakes will remain open to fishing from sunrise to sunset as specified in the Fishing Regulations booklet . Water temperatures have exceeded 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) in rece...
Modified operations at marinas on Jackson Lake - NPS
News Release Modified operations at marinas on Jackson Lake Park visitors advised to use caution when recreating on park waters NPS Photo/C. Adams News Release Date: July 20, 2021 Contact: Denise Germann, 307.739.3393 Contact: C.J. Adams, 307.739.3431 MOOSE, WY— Due Grand Teton National Park visitors, boaters, and river users should expect impacts to some recreational activities, including modified operations at lake marinas, from the expected drawdown of Jackson Lake. The public is advised to use caution when recreating on Jackson Lake and the Snake River downstream of Jackson Lake Dam. Due to very low natural flows and the need to supplement downstream reservoirs, Jackson Lake is expected to drawdown rapidly to levels only seen three times in the last thirty years. Park concessions with marina facilities, including Grand Teton Lodge Company and Signal Mountain Lodge Company , are modifying operations in accordance with forecasted lake level ...
Unauthorized Yellowstone park guide sentenced for illegal activities - NPS
News Release Unauthorized Yellowstone park guide sentenced for illegal activities East Entrance sign NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date: July 18, 2021 Contact: Mark Trimble , (307) 772-2124 Acting United States Attorney Bob Murray announced today that THEODORE EUGENE GARLAND , age 60 of Edmond, Oklahoma was sentenced on seven counts of illegal activities and violations in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Garland appeared in front of Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming on July 2, 2021, for the sentencing. Theodore Garland has a social-media page, a podcast, and a guidebook. All three have overlapping pictures and posts about his guided tours in YNP, which violated closures and other park regulations and encouraged visitors to do the same. Some of the examples included providing unauthorized guided tours; trespassing on thermal grounds; violating swimming closures and cliff jumping; c...
Dust abatement activities on Moose-Wilson Road July 27-29 - NPS
Releases News Release Dust abatement activities on Moose-Wilson Road July 27-29 Temporary closure with no through traffic NPS Photo/C. Adams News Release Date: July 19, 2021 Contact: Denise Germann, 307-739-3393 Contact: CJ Adams, 307-739-3431 MOOSE, WY— The unpaved section of the Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton National Park will be temporarily closed for seasonal dust abatement beginning 4 a.m. Tuesday, July 27 and will reopen by 8 a.m. Thursday, July 29. This routine dust abatement application happens several times during the summer on the approximately one-mile of unpaved section of the seven-mile road. During the dust abatement application July 27-29, motorists and bicyclists should plan to use an alternate route as this temporary closure will prevent making a ‘through trip’ on the Moose-Wilson Road between the Granite Canyon Entrance Station and the Teton Park Road at Moose, Wyoming. For those wishing to reach the...
The travertine of Mammoth Hot Springs - Caldera Chronicles
An outlier of Yellowstone's thermal areas: the travertine of Mammoth Hot Springs Release Date: July 12, 2021 Early explorers during the separate Washburn, Hayden, and Hague expeditions of the 1870s were astonished by the massive terraces and pools of hot-spring limestone, better known as travertine, at Mammoth Hot Springs—a chemical oddity that is quite different from other Yellowstone thermal areas. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Pat Shanks, research geologist emeritus with the U.S. Geological Survey. Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Map of Yellowstone National Park showing locations of thermal basins that host hot springs, geysers, and mudpots. Dark green areas host alkaline-chloride fluids. Yellowstone Caldera margin shown as bold dashed l...
Grand Teton initiates habitat restoration projects - NPS
News Release Grand Teton initiates habitat restoration projects NPS Photo/C. Adams Subscribe | What is RSS News Release Date: July 15, 2021 Contact: Denise Germann, 307.739.3393 Contact: C.J. Adams, 307.739.3431 Grand Teton National Park staff have initiated habitat restoration projects in the southern part of the park. The work is part of a multi-phase restoration effort to replace approximately 4,500 acres of former non-native grass fields with native sagebrush steppe habitat. A healthy sagebrush ecosystem in Grand Teton is vital for the diversity and abundance of native plants and wildlife species like elk, bison, moose, pronghorn, and sage grouse that rely on them. Through the support of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, the park has worked to return these pastures to their former, native glory. Beginning in the late 1800s, Jackson Hole homesteaders converted large swaths of local sagebrush steppe habitat to hayfields for agr...
Jenny Lake Explorer digital application experience now available to visitors in Grand Teton National Park - NPS
News Release Jenny Lake Explorer digital application experience now available to visitors in Grand Teton National Park NPS Photo/J. Bonney News Release Date: July 13, 2021 Contact: Denise Germann, 307.739.3393 Contact: C.J. Adams, 307.739.3431 MOOSE, WY— Grand Teton National Park Foundation and Grand Teton National Park are pleased to share the launch of the public beta version of the Jenny Lake Explorer App, developed and published by Grand Teton National Park Foundation and available soon on app stores. As a young (or young at heart) visitor explores the Jenny Lake area, they can complete multiple interactive activities on a smartphone or tablet app. The experiences integrate with onsite exhibits, discovery trail, and lake overlooks. This modern, digital extension of educational displays at Jenny Lake was made possible by Grand Teton National Park Foundation through a generous grant of $250,000 from AT&T. The gift was part of the Jen...
Yellowstone National Park visitation statistics on Fourth of July weekend 2021 - NPS
News Release Yellowstone National Park visitation statistics on Fourth of July weekend 2021 Old Faithful summer eruption NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date: July 8, 2021 Contact: Morgan Warthin , 307-344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Parkwide vehicle entries through the Fourth of July weekend showed an 8% increase over the same weekend in 2019. This year is compared to 2019 instead of 2020 because of COVID-19. Visitation statistics (*vehicle entries) per day for July 2-5, 2021, compared to July 5-8, 2019, are listed below. Park entrance Vehicle entries Percent increase 2021 over 2019 Friday, July 2, 2021 Friday, July 5, 2019 East 1,148 1,473 -22% North 2,106 2,026 4% Northeast 570 862 -34% South 2,049 2,226 -8% West 5,228 5,680 -8% Total 11,101 12,267 -10% Saturday, July 3, 2021 Saturday, July 6, 2019 East 1,257 1,405 -11% North 2,263 1,983 ...
The long journey of water from Yellowstone’s hot springs and geysers to different oceans - USGS
The long journey of water from Yellowstone’s hot springs and geysers to different oceans Release Date: July 5, 2021 Yellowstone’s hot spring waters ultimately flow for thousands of miles before entering the ocean. But waters enter two different oceans—the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Shaul Hurwitz, Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. There are numerous hot springs and a lot water flowing in Yellowstone, but what is the fate of the hot water erupted from Old Faithful Geyser , for example? Where does that water ultimately end up? Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Map of Yellowstone National Park showing the major rivers and the continental divide (red dashed). Yellowstone Caldera is ou...